My first home cooked brunch

 

Running out of ideas what to cook for lunch on last Saturday and I ransacked my fridge and kitchen cabinet to see what do I have.

And i decided to cook an American Brunch!

 

And  I have a very happy audience! 

Half way through…

Time really flies and so fast, I already past the midway mark of the pregnancy. Somehow, this pregnancy feels much faster than the first one…. maybe because I am so busy at work every single day. So each day just passes by without me realising much.

In any case, I am still thankful to God for a relatively good pregnancy so far, minus away all the horrid morning sickness, which seems to be able hit me at any time of the day and worsen when I ate too greasy food. This baby has a way to remind me to eat healthy most of the time.

Ever since the 16 weeks, Dr Chin, my gynae, has been trying to scan for the gender of this small one. But the small one has been mysterious and always not allowing us to see the important part!!!Tried a few times and we never succeed.

And finally, 3 weeks ago when we went to do the 20th detailed scan, this little one finally decide to reveal the truth to us!! Check out the picture below for the answer! :)

Dr Chin says that he seems much more active and naughty than the brother.. hahaha… i won’t want to imagine that for now!!! But indeed, he kicks me more and move relatively more than Justin when Justin was inside me.

Being able to feel the baby’s movement inside is always one of the greatest moments of the pregnancy and I really can feel that this active is much more active than last round when Justin was inside.  Almost every day at the same timing, I can feel the small one wriggling inside and I always wonder what is he doing inside!!

23 weeks now and another 17 or less to go….. time to really plan out my leave cover plans at work, help at home during maternity and many many preparation that need to be done before the lil one arrives.

Too many things, too little time! OMG!

20th week

Time flies and i am now already half way through the pregnancy journey.

It has not been the best, but i am glad that it is improving and at least for now, i can sleep better at night. But i am still feeling the fatigue everyday no matter how much i sleep. And I realise this pregnancy, I have taken much lesser pictures of my bump. Still thinking whether to go for those maternity family studio shots.. something that i have been thinking since the first pregnancy and never materialise. Still thinking and looking out for good lobangs.
Many people have been asking me, boy or girl? I really dont have the answer cos this one is very naughty la! Don’t want to show us… everytime we go for the scanning, he/she will close the legs whenever my gynae is going to take the picture or try to position the scan in the position to spot for the little thing!!! Haha…. super naughty!! Now we hope that when we go for the detailed scan this week, we will have some light!! Like what my sister told me, tell baby that if still so naughty, come out no clothes to wear ah!! cos we don’t know what to buy.. :p
On the happier note, i have finally finished my taxation exam and now, its to wait for the results in one month’s time. Really need Lots of God’s grace. haha… not asking for too much, just 61 marks to pass the paper and get my certification!! Hehehe.
Going to be end of Nov soon and we have not gone for our family trip this year. sigh. Think most likely will end up with a staycation again in December and i really hope that next June / July, we can go for a family trip, although its going to be a very challenging one with a 3.5year old and a 3 month old infant! LOL!
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Second trimester…. finally

Finally, reached the second trimester and God has been awesomely good!!!
My morning sickness is finally slowly fading away behind the scene!!! No joke after puking non-stop for 2 months in a row and i am proclaiming by faith in Jesus’ name that this will leave me totally for the rest of the 6 months of pregnancy!!! Amen and Amen!
This week is week 17 and soon, it will be the halfway mark of the pregnancy. Time really passes super duber fast every single day. Work is crazy and the fatigue that piles up does not really help me to be more efficient. Everyday, I pray for new strength and new mercies of God to help me last through the day. Like what Pastor tweeted this week, Living one day at a time. Exactly what i am doing now.
Looking forward to my short study break in November. Even though I will be spending a large portion of the time studying for my upcoming exam, but I am also hoping to get some rest and spend some time with my precious son! :-)

A new chapter

Well, yes, i know i been missing from blogging for months! Apart from being overly busy at work, somehow lost the momentum to blog. Too much things and did not know how to express them in words. So decided not to write anything.
But well, now that a new chapter is going to unfold, I feel that its only fair that I start to blog about it again. For all I know, this could be my last pregnancy experience, so I really want to document down the journey as much as I can.
As I am writing this entry, I am in my 12.5weeks of the first trimester. Really praying for the first trimester to be over soon. Purely because I want the horrible morning sickness to be GONE in JESUS’ NAME!

The whole episode started since I was in Shanghai and every night was a nightmare for me. I was totally exhausted by 7pm and all my food never stayed in my stomach  for the night. The food and air there did not help and I think not worth reminiscing the experience again.

Anyway, after I came back to Singapore, the first thing was to do a test and dada! Hit Jackpot ah! We were extremely happy because our wish finally came true and I was totally grateful to Father God for his timeliness. Like what we always know, God is never early never late. He comes on time. He gave us this little life only now because I have already fulfilled all the major trips that I need to go this year and now is probably the best timing. Praise the Lord!

Fast forward the story, since August till now, every night I got to spend at least 30 mins in the toilet and it is no fun at all. I struggled everyday with a bloated stomach , indigestion, gaseousness and puking starting from 3-4pm and all the way till bedtime. That explains for the sumptuous breakfast that I must have every morning.  :p

Really very thankful and grateful for very supporting husband, in laws and parents who accommodated to my changes and try to help me look after Justin as much as possible so that i can more time to rest as needed.
Now the only wish is that this morning sickness leaves me soon in 1 or 2 weeks time so that i can truly start to enjoy my second trimester, and of cos, I want to regain my energy level as before to play with my precious son!

 

28 weeks to go! yay!

A little stressed…

 

Exactly how I am feeling this minute, as I am typing this post.

A zillion things to be done, and my deadline is just 1 week.

In the midst of all these, I am reminded that I should be thankful for the opportunities that my finance director is creating for me at this stage of my career. Not everyone has the chance to go through what I am put through, and this is another season of my life that I have to go through.

Believe that I will come out stronger at the end of the day. At least, in terms of knowledge and experience that I can carry with me.

Meanwhile, I am asking God every single day to give me greater portion of wisdom and capacity.

I don’t know if I can, but i know my God surely can.

Thankful

Bible says, be thankful for everything in life.

I believe, when we become thankful persons, our life becomes happier.

Even though every day, it does seem that we are going through battles and s***, but as we look around and take a step back, there are definitely things everyday that we can give thanks to God for.

If you really can't think of anything, thank God that you are still alive today!!!

*************************************************************************

In the twinkle of an eye, another quarter is going to finish in less than 2 days time and we are already stepping into the second quarter of 2012. So far, it has been a busy and frantic quarter, with presentations and lots of problems to solve due to the corporate integration exercise.

Work wise, I can foresee it will just get more, as my manager and director are preparing for the end of their assignement and they be going back in May and July respectively. How time has passed so fast that they are already finishing their 2 years expat assignment in Singapore.

Justin also started school in March since 2 weeks ago. And I am really proud of this little boy. I had expected him to react to the change, but he has somehow adapted to the change quite well and most importantly, he is enjoying school!! Everyday after work, when I ask him about school, he is always excited and happy and he can even tell me that he wants to go school!!!

Thank God and Praise his Goodness!!

So many things are happening and lots more are going to happen in the months ahead.

I also started a secret diary that I started to write down at least 1 thing that I thank God for everyday. I personally think that's a good way for myself to really keep track of the fast paced life and changes happening around me which sometimes, I may overlooked easily due to busy-ness.

One year later, i am going to read again what I have went through this one year and I believe that there are going to be WOWs.

Justin’s milestone

Last Monday was Justin’s another milestone as he started his pre nursery school at Trueway Presb Church. Honestly speaking, I think my son is much braver than me. I think this is what we call, Child like faith. Not being aware of what’s ahead probably is much better than knowing what is ahead and the anxiety of preparing for the worst is not such a good feeling after all.
Back to Justin’s first day of school. This is actually a 3-hour class every day five day a week. We thought this is a good way to start to train and prepare him for the child care center next year and more importantly, the school will allow him more interaction activities with other children and getting down to routine and discipline (which i still praying that the latter reason will work for his restlessness.. ). :p

The daily lesson will start with assembly time comprise of praise and worship songs. After that, they proceed to their classroom where they will have various lessons like maths, chinese, art & craft and indoor and outdoor playtime.

But I think the happiest sessions for him is none other than…

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The playground!! Love his cheeky grin!

 

That’s the first week of school for Justin… really proud of him that he is doing fine so far. Looking forward to him coming back to tell me more of the things that he learn in school in days to come!

A girlie’s outing

 

We have been planning this for some time and finally, we finally materialise our outing!!!

We originally wanted to go and do our nails before heading down for a good hi-tea. However, due to the unforeseen circumstances (my nails broke a couple of days before and my girl friend bit off almost all her nails…… kekekeke), we decided to do some mama shopping before heading down to our hi-tea.

Did a little bit of research and decided to settle down at The Marmalade Pantry @ Ion Orchard.

My first time to Marmalade Pantry was actually to try their dinner with a few friends and I kind of like their exquisite pasta menu. Only thing is that their prices are slightly higher than usual but I guess the ambience kind of compensated it.

This is one place that i really feel in love with and been telling myself i want to go back for the cakes. :-)

  We ordered the afternoon set which comes with a choice of tea, cupcake and the platter.

Look at our gorgeous platter!! Yummy, isn’t it? Haha

My Elvis on the right and Her William on the left.  

This is my good buddy and friend and half boss and role model mummy of 2!!!

 

We had a good time chatting everytime we get together, probably because we have quote a lot of things in common, like both of us are mothers, we came from the same sec sch and JC, hence have some common friends, now both working in the same company and both are finance persons….. so we kind of never run out of topics to chat..mOst importantly, she is one friend that I feel very comfortable sharing things with, be it work or personal.

It is God’s blessing, that I met her again in the current company. Makes the stressful working life happier to a certain extent. :-)

Bosses and Friends and colleague make important influence to one’s happiness index in a company. Agree? :)

Looking forward to our next outing. Time to start planning. :-)

we are on the papers!

After waiting for 3 decades, we finally have a chance to appear on paper.

And the star was none other than…. our precious son, Justin Tay!

Because of his hospitalization policy and the kawasaki that he suffered last year, we were selected by AIA for this project.

Many people ask me: Wow, so now do you get free premium for the next 20 years, since you are advertising for AIA?

My answer: Haha.. that’s my wish, but AIA has not fulfill that wish.

I guess the main takeaway of this project: FUN and more FUN!!!

Last December, on one of the saturday, the whole crew team came down to our place on a saturday morning.

Had 2 hours of professional make up and hair styling (Haha.. ya.. nothing fanciful done to hair cos they wanted natural look).

Thankful for the good makeup that covered up our eye bags and wrinkles!!!!   YAY!

And then, we had 80 shots taken at the playground underneath our house, and 80 shots taken indoors…….

It was tough job. Because basically Justin always get distracted by the playground!!!
So it was super tough to get him to focus on the camera and smile, at the right timing and right angle! :p

By the time we went upstairs for the indoor shots, he was already tired and grouchy.. so you can imagine another round of coaxing and bluffing and tricking before we finally finish the task!!!!!!

And so, after 2 months or so of editing and all the newspaper artwork (which did not bother us at all…)

We finally saw the final product on the Today Paper on 6 March 2012.

This was the best photo taken out of the 80 outdoor shots.

 

Thank God for the great experience and all the fun that we had.

Looking forward to the next publishing in the Mother and Baby magazine in May. =))

A short biz trip to Melaka

After the gruelling presentation on Thursday (Yesh, it’s finally over!!!), I had to make a short 2D1N business trip to Melaka with my treasury manager.

I got to know about this trip almost one week exactly before and according to my FD, i had little to prepare for this trip. It was more of a getting to know the finance team at the Melaka team to facilitate the taking over of the a few ledger in a few months’ time. So for me, it was a pretty less stressful trip this time round.

So after the presentation which ended at 1pm, we had a quick lunch and wrap up of the necessary before our car came at 230pm to pick us up from the office. Even though we were both pretty exhausted from the presentation, but we were both chatting and “gossiping'” all the way till we reach Melaka!! Quite a good time of catch up and chatting with a dear friend. In Singapore, we barely got time for this type of chit chat time as we were both super busy in office and off work time are all given to our kids!!!

Finally we reached Melaka and checked in to our hotel at Hotel Equatorial Melaka. Our Melaka FD helped us booked the club king room and the room was a lot bigger than what we expected!! My jaws almost dropped when we checked into the room. The room had a huge bed, a side table, a small dining area and the bathroom was huge!!!  I seriously think that the room was good enough for a family of 3!

The view from my room.. I wish i had more time to enjoy the pool!!

My club room. Too big for one.

The spacious toilet.

After exploring the room and settled down, we both went down to the business lounge. They serve pre-dinner cocktail and this was covered with our room package.

Not a bad place to chill and relax. Simple tea time snacks.

We were supposed to go for dinner. But after the snacks, we were kind of full up.

Thus we decided to go to the nearby shopping malls. Visited the Makotta Parade and Palawan Shopping mall.

The 2 Libra-ians were very good at shopping and within 15 mins, we both left the first mall with a pair of heels!!

We finished looking around the 2 malls in 1 hr 30 mins…. actually we were just more of window shopping cos both of us were already exhausted TTM.

So we decided to call it a day and Go back to the room to rest, in anticipation of the long day ahead the next day. 

So back to the hotel room, we realised we had not had dinner!!!!!

And so, we ordered room service.  

I ordered a soup and a sandwich.

And i was shocked at the size of the portion!!!!

Look at the pictures and you will understand why.

Seafood soup. Yummy!! Finished every bits.

Manesto Sandwich. Resembles French toast but the bread was huge in size!!!

So I only manage to finish 2 of the 4. 

That’s the end of Day 1. Day 2 started at 630am and we started at office at 730am and worked all the way till 330pm before the car came and fetched us all the way back to Singapore.

A short and tiring trip. But a very fulfilling one cos’ we achieve most of the things we plan to do and met the people.

Foresee a few more trips to Melaka in the coming months.

2 more days.

Can’ wait for the presentation to be over on Thursday. 2 more days.

After that, will be a trip to 2D1N trip to Malacca before the weekend.

Plan to do so many things with Justin and Gerald.

Looking forward to a good 2 weeks break before my next project begin.

And i won the 2nd prize!

I never had much luck, especially in lucky draws.

Can’t remember when was the last time i won something in a lucky draw.

During the last D&D, i could almost smell the top 3 prizes, as I was the one holding the huge bowl with all the employees ID in it, while the MD was picking the lucky winners. I could see my ID swimming in and out of his fingers.. but just no luck.

So during the CNY lunch a few days back, I was totally surprised when my ID got picked for the 2nd prize!!!

Even though the prize is not really fantastic and definitely not useful for me, cos I don’t even drink XO,

but still, I think its a good sign to me that this is definitely going to be GOOD year ahead!!!

XOXO~~

12th anniversary of together-ness

12 years ago, on this day, we held hands for the very first time. And started dating.

And in the twinkle of an eye, 12 great years have passed and we are now already proud parents of a cute little one.

I thank God for an awesome 12 years, blessing me with a great man who is always my greatest pillar of support in all circumstances.

Like what Pastor Kong says, the man of the house is the spiritual leader, the king and the teacher of the household.

I truly agree with this statement and I think the one in my house has done a great job.  

Thank you Dear for the great 12 years and I am definitely Looking forward to the next 12 great years ahead!! ~~~~

Bye 2011, Hello 2012

This is definitely a very late post…been wanting to write a post on the last few days of 2011 to summarise the year 2011. But it has been such a crazy month in December and following another crazy busy month of work + festive holidays + deadlines + presentation dry runs etc…. and all these in the midst of desperately calling up child care centers, nursery kindergartens and any other available 2 or 3 hours lessons that Justin can go to in 2012.

Phew… a long list…. and I definitely do not intend to start my first post for 2012 with complaints and naggings. So i shall put them all aside for the time being now.  

Justin is now already 26 months old. How time really really flies. in the year of 2011, he has grown so much and also learnt and picked up many new skills. Now, his vocabulary is no longer limited to one word at a time. Many atimes, he is able to express clearly to us what he wants, even with his incomplete sentences. But I am extremely proud of him still because i do see children of his age are still not as expressive as him.

For that, i must really thank God for a great mother-in-law, who is not just our nanny and babysitter from Monday to Friday while both of us go to work. But she is also Justin’s main caregiver, tutor and entertainer. Hahahaha… quoting her, she always tells us that she always constantly got to think of what new things can she teach or entertain Justin when she comes the next day. I guess, all these can only be done with the great love of a grandma. Love is precious. And through her patient teaching, I see Justin learning new words almost every other day. I would not imagine what it will be like if its not her looking after Justin.

Anyway, time has come that Justin should start to pick up and brush up on his social interaction skills. I have called up so many different places. Sad thing is that most of them are full full full to the end of this year at least. Sigh… so its waiting list after waiting list. All i can do, look up to Heaven, pray to God to open a door for us.

Meanwhile, I guess its just more playtime for this little cute one at home. Hahaha

 

Totally in love with his cheekiness, even though sometimes, can be pretty unbearable too!! Hahahahha… contradicting huh…. hur hur hur….

The other good news at the start of 2012 is that I just completed my performance appraisal for 2011. Thank God for a good appraisal and if nothing goes wrong, I will be due for promotion this year by 2Q. I believe that all these are in the plans of God, just like how he has planted me in this company in 2010 at a most unexpected circumstances. The things that I have gone through 2011 are really bitter sweet. But through all the exposure, learning experiences and tough circumstances, I think I can proudly say that God has definitely made me a stronger woman than what I thought I was, at least in my own perspective.

The Bible says in Isaiah 55:8, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways”.

I truly embrace this and I know that in the year 2012, Many many many greater things are yet to come. And I pray that God prepares my heart to be ready for all the upcoming challenges and mountains. Many things I am praying for to come true in 2012. God knows all the desires of my heart and I believe He is the only God who can bring these desires to reality.

I am letting Go, and letting GOD to reign, take control of my life.